Colorado is expected to hire George Helow as senior defensive coach, per source. He’ll work closely with Buffaloes defensive coordinator Robert Livingston. Helow worked under Jim Harbaugh as Michigan linebackers coach and most recently spent time last season as a special assistant to Nick Saban at Alabama. 

The 37-year-old has experience at multiple SEC & Big Ten schools, including Maryland, Georgia and Florida State. He was hired at Alabama ahead of their College Football Playoff Semifinal matchup against Michigan last year. Saban and the Tide appeared to be make every effort to gain an advantage on the top-ranked Wolverines. 

Warren Sapp says Deion Sanders got him “addicted” to coaching at Colorado

Helow’s stop in Tuscaloosa was his second, as he previously served as an defensive intern for Alabama in 2012, first in the weight room in the spring, then under then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart in the fall. He also had a brief stop at Colorado State for four seasons from 2016-19.
In 2022, Michigan’s defense ranked third nationally in total defense (277.1 yards per game) and fifth in scoring defense (13.4 points per game). The year prior, the unit ranked 12th in total defense (316.2 yards per game allowed) and fourth in scoring defense (16.1).

Helow played collegiately at Ole Miss with 38 games of experience from 2008-10, including back-to-back Cotton Bowl victories. He was nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, an award given annually to the nation’s most outstanding college football player who began their career as a walk-on.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – More than 5,300 customers are without power in the Cimarron Hills area and the eastern outskirts of Colorado Springs.

According to an outage map by Colorado Springs Utilities, part of Peterson Space Force Base is also in the outage area.

Currently, no cause has been provided by Springs Utilities, but it anticipates having power restored by about 10:15 a.m.

This is a developing story, and we will update as we learn more.

Click here to view the Colorado Springs Utilities outage map.

Copyright 2024 KKTV. All rights reserved.

The 2024-25 school year is starting with districts seeking help. Across Colorado, many districts are again short of teachers, staff, and bus drivers. 

In Jefferson County Schools, which resumes for most students on Thursday, the district is still looking to hire 11 teachers, 35 paraprofessionals, and 27 special education teachers, despite decades of declining enrollments due to a drop in birth rates and rising housing costs.

In the Boulder Valley School District, officials are seeking to hire a dozen teachers as the district opens. They are offering a $3,500 signing bonus to bus drivers.

“What we’re trying to do is be proactive and engage the community,” said Superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson. “We’ve been talking about this for several years.”

The district has been marketing its efforts to educate and address the shortage.

“We found schools that have lower enrollment. We’re looking at new academic programs and new marketing to let folks know we have room in our amazing schools here in the Boulder Valley School District,” Anderson said.

In Jefferson County, the district addressed a shortage of bus drivers last year by noticing the number of buses that were not full and purchasing 18 smaller buses that do not require commercial driver’s licenses. The district is now fully staffed with drivers for this year.

Last school year, districts in Colorado were about 1,400 teachers short.

“We have more than enough people with educator licenses right now that could fill the need,” said Kevin Vick, president of the state’s largest teachers’ union, the Colorado Education Association. “There are more people licensed than working in the profession. They are simply not staying,” Vick said.

Colorado ranks last in competitive professional pay. But it’s not only about pay. There are also concerns about safety and standardization of teaching practices, according to Vick.

“It’s important to understand there’s a difference between standards and standardization,” Vick said. He believes standards are appropriate, but standardization frustrates educators.

“They prescribe a certain way of teaching, a certain curriculum, or certain grade level expectations, and they find that when they are teaching the kids, the kids need something else,” Vick said. “It’s about the same as expecting kids to all be the same height.”

Some educators have left for jobs outside of teaching. Denver Public Schools will start the year with dozens of teachers and paraprofessionals short. 

Parent Henry moved his 7-year-old and 11-year-old children to a different school this year due to what he described as problem students at his children’s previous school.

“Who doesn’t love teaching young, happy little minds? But when it becomes that difficult and you don’t have any power for any kind of discipline whatsoever and the kids know that, what are you going to do?” Henry said.

He also worries about teachers trying to push some students while leaving others bored and not challenged. Nevertheless, he believes his children have had good teachers who care.

“It is cool to see teachers who are passionate about it and really put their heart into it despite major challenges,” Henry said.